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Trading outpost with little social interaction

During the early days of Singapore, the British came here solely for the purpose of promoting trade. The East India company and the later colonial administrations governed Singapore like a business enterprise. Therefore, management of social issues faced by the locals was of a low priority to the British.

The people living here came from different parts of Asia i.e. China, India, Indonesia and surrounding islands. They were focused on making money and then return better off financially to their country of origin. These immigrants lived within their own enclaves surrounded by their kins and countrymen. There was little mingling between the different immigrant groups.

Issues faced by the locals.

Inability to care for themselves when they were unwell

Some the concerns the immigrants had was inability to care for themselves when they fell ill and lack of decent burial in the event they pass on prematurely. These concerns were addressed by the clan associations which stepped in to set up a savings fund where its members...

Those who died prematurely, were ensured a decent burial with appropriate ceremonies. Over time these clan associations became more established and ran rest homes for the elderlies, established large hospitals to care for needy and built schools.

Lack of Housing & Companionship

The immigrants in the early days, came to Singapore alone without their families. These new immigrants needed help for food and lodging. Naturally, they chose to live close to their kins for the same village in a specific locality so that they can receive the needed companionship and support.

Single men from the same village would share a room or rent a whole shophouse, an arrangement referred to as 'kongsi' house. The 'Boyanese' originating from Java, similarly, clustered in fellow villager shared premises known as 'pondok'. The 'kongsi' and 'pondok' arrangements provided companionship, mutual aid and sense of security from a shared language, dietary tastes and way of life generally.

Approach taken by British to address these issues:

Focus on Promoting Trading Activities

The British adopted a 'hands off' approach to the social issues faced by the locals then as its primary intention was to develop Singapore into a successful trading society. It wanted to build Singapore into a commercial emporium.

Thus, it spent its limited resources on building the town infrastructure and a legal system. This included spending money to build bridges, creating commercial areas such as Raffles Place etc. Besides this, a significant proportion of the monies that were earned through the trade activities were sent to their home country i.e. England.

Lack of 'common will' to resolve social issues faced by the locals

This hand off' approach was also adopted as the British lacked a 'common will' to do so in the absence of a common demand. Moreover, provision of social services for the locals would theoretically be difficult and disorganised, as it would have several potential obstacles to negotiate e.g. tension between economic drive for profit and humanitarian concerns, cultural differences within the plural society etc.

Moreover, the locals also preferred for such issues to be dealt with by their respective community leaders. Having said this, the lack of 'common will' reflects more of the British in not wanting to commit resources to improve the well-being of the locals then.